Chapter 281
Julia signed the termination agreement quickly.
As for the compensation fee, she promised to make full payment within the timeframe stated in the contract.
When Johnny received the update, he scoffed. “She sure acts fast.”
From then on, their lawyers handled the follow–up. Once Julia signed the termination, neither Maggie nor Johnny bothered to pay the matter any further attention.
A couple of days later, Nolan was on vacation. The three of them–teacher and students–hadn’t seen each other for a while, so they arranged to meet up for a meal.
That afternoon, Maggie and Johnny left the office and arrived at the restaurant. Just as they stepped up to the entrance, they ran into Julia and Franklin’s party.
Also with them was Mr. Alison, the head of Alison Group, another major domestic AI company.
Mr. Alison was acquainted with Johnny. They got along fairly well and usually had a chat when they ran into each
other.
Upon seeing Johnny, Mr. Alison greeted him warmly, “President Gray.”
Johnny didn’t spar
Mr. Alison kno
terminated.
even a glance at Franklin or Julia. He smiled at Mr. Alison and replied, “Mr. Alison.”
well enough that Wilson Tech had approached him only after their contract with Cole was
Seeing Johnny’s cold demeanor toward Julia and Franklin, he assumed it stemmed from bad blood over the
contract fallout.
In the past, even when Johnny was indifferent, Franklin and Julia would still greet him out of courtesy.
But this time, they said nothing.
Even Julia’s gaze toward Johnny was far colder than before.
As for Maggie, she didn’t even bother to look at them.
Johnny and Maggie weren’t interested in acknowledging them either.
After greeting Mr. Alison, they headed straight inside.
Once they were out of the elevator and seated in their private room, Johnny sneered, “Just ended the contract with
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us and jumped straight into a partnership with Alison Group. Franklin sure knows how to throw money around.”
Alison Group was one of the top–tier Al companies in America.
In terms of deal value, this new partnership was probably double what they had offered.
Maggie took a sip of water and commented, “Their natural language processing system was the best in the country last year–undisputed. It’s no surprise they’d go with Mr. Alison. Honestly, after missing out with us, this was their best option to make up for lost ground.”
“There’s no reason not to choose Alison Group.”
Of course Johnny knew this.
And that was exactly what made him even more frustrated. The more reasonable the choice was, the more bitter he felt.
The longer he thought about it, the angrier he became.
“I bet Franklin paid the termination fee for Wilson Tech too,” he said.
Maggie didn’t respond.
At that moment, Nolan arrived.
Seeing him walk in, neither of them brought the matter up again.
They didn’t want to sully their teacher’s ears with all this petty drama.
Whenever they met with Nolan, the topic of conversation was usually new trends in AI. Since they didn’t get to meet often, this lunch ran longer than usual–nearly two hours.
After the meal, as they stepped out and headed for the elevator, the private room next door opened.
And right in front of them stood Franklin, Julia, and Mr. Alison.
Before Maggie or Johnny could say anything, Mr. Alison spotted Nolan and called out in delight, “Mr. Nolan!”
Mr. Alison had an AI background as well and enjoyed a fair amount of recognition in the field.
Nolan knew who he was and gave him a polite nod.
Franklin also greeted Nolan, followed by Julia: “Mr. Nolan.”
Nolan looked impassive and didn’t respond right away.
At that moment, a group of people rounded the hallway corner. When they saw the group by the
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elevators–especially when they spotted Nolan–they momentarily froze,
Maggie glanced over and immediately looked away–it was Rex.
Rex quickly regained his composure.
After looking at Julia, he stepped forward and greeted Nolan, “Mr. Nolan.”
Nolan nodded slightly but hadn’t spoken yet.
Rex then glanced at the group–Franklin, Julia, and Maggie–and asked, “Were you all dining together?”
He had already heard about the contract termination between Cole and Wilson Tech.
He also heard that Julia believed Johnny wasn’t sincere about continuing the partnership, and that staying in the deal would only lead to more issues down the road. So she had agreed to end it for the greater good.
But now, barely after the fallout, both sides just happened to be having lunch at the same place?
That didn’t quite add up.
But-
Julia, reading his thoughts, stepped in to clarify,
“No, we just happened to run into each other.”
Rex nodded. “Ah, I see.”
He thought as much…
Neither Maggie nor Johnny had the patience to engage further with him, or with Franklin and Julia.
Just as Maggie was about to say something, Johnny beat her to it.
He turned to Nolan and said, “Teacher, let’s go.”
Nolan nodded and was just about to turn away when-
Rex, noticing the dismissiveness from both Johnny and Maggie–acting as though he, Franklin, and Julia weren’t worth a glance–suddenly took a step forward.
He said, “Mr. Nolan, my father is Reed Hardin. We met recently–do you remember?”
Nolan looked at him and said plainly, “I do. So?”
